But measuring accurately is so important when you're using dominating flavourings such as saffron, vanilla, nutmeg, honey, cinnamon, passion fruit, and so on. And it's vital carefully to measure ingredients when you're dealing with chemically crucial ingredients such as baking powder, yeast and gelatine.

What I mean by 'conventions' is that the quantities I specify - such as 'a cup', 'a teaspoon' and 'a tablespoon' - consistently refer to an exact number of millilitres, whether you're measuring dry or liquid ingredients.

Please note: Until a year or so ago, I used the abbreviations 't' and 'T', for teaspoons and tablespoons, respectively. I've switched to using 'tsp' and 'Tbsp' since then, for clarity.

I occasionally give measurements in grams (particularly in baking recipes, where weight is more important than volume) but for the most part my ingredients are expressed in spoons and cups (and I always supply the millilitre equivalent).

I've taken this approach because almost everyone has a set of measuring spoons and cups, but not that many cooks own a digital kitchen scale.

For UK and US readers of this blog who still use imperial fluid ounces, and who are not sure what I mean by 'a teaspoon' or 'a cup', these quantities can represent a challenge, so I've drawn the up quick-reference table below.

To convert measurements in millilitres to pints, quarts, and so on, please use this easy online tool.

Also, please note that in the UK, a ‘pint’ is about 560 ml. In the US, a pint can be interpreted as 473 – 550 ml, depending on whether the ingredient is wet or dry. Yes, I know that’s confusing, and it baffles me too. If you’re making recipes from my blog, I suggest you buy a set of metric spoons and cups, and use those.

Measuring conventions in South African cookery

In South Africa, a
'teaspoon' equals 5 ml (millilitres), a 'tablespoon' is equivalent to 15 ml,
and a 'cup' is 250 ml, whether or not you're measuring
liquid or dry ingredients.

Here is an
easy-reference table showing how many millilitres are contained in South African
teaspoons, tablespoons and cups.

Note: All these measurements have been rounded off, for convenience. For
example, a third of a cup is actually 83.333 ml, but in this table it is snipped down to 80 ml.